Recorder.



W. HESS, 'Jn.

RECORDER.

APPLICATION FILED my 15, 1912.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET L p'lrlzcgys...

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W. HESS, J11.

RECORDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1912.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

3 SHEETSBHEET 2.

l llllmll lmuw THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. FHOTO-LITnCL, WASHINGTON, D. C.

W. HESS, Jn.

RECORDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1912 1,1 05,906, Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

3 SHEETS'MIEBT 3.

i 6 ji /25 THE. NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTU-LITHQ. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WENDELL HESS, JR., OF TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO W. 86 L. E. GURLEY, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RECORDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

Application filed May 15, 1912. Serial No. 697,459.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, l/VENDELL Hess, Jr., acitizen of the United States, residing at Troy, in the county ofRensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Recorders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to recording devices and particularly to a simpleform of mechanism for making a continuous record of water stage orlevel.

The device belongs to that general class in which a clock driven stylusor pencil marks upon a sheet carried by a drum or similar carrier movedby'a float upon the surface of the water, and the novel features aremore particularly the form of the supporting drum together with itsmeans for carrying the record paper, and the form of driving mechanismfor the pencil carriage.

In the preferred form of the invention, the record of water stage ismade full size, and by the particular construction adopted the devicemay have a very considerable range, recorders capable of measuringvariations of level of five feet or more being readily constructed.Heretofore attempts to measure such large fluctuations in their fullscale have been attended with considerable difficulty due to the warpingor shrinking of the record sheet, with variations in the temperaturesand humidity of the air, such variations making it diflicult to maintainthe record sheet in a smooth condition and resulting in aggregate errorsof con-.

siderable amount.

One featur f my invention is the subdivision of the record sheet into anumber of sections individually held taut. As the normal fluctuation ofwater stage is commonly from six inches to a foot, it. is obvious thatthe record may ordinarily be confined to one or two such portions of thetotal record area so that a considerable saving in record sheets and agreater ease of replacement of such sheets are secured. It will beobvious also that with my recorder even where there is a warping orshrinking of the paper, the error so produced Will not be cumulativethroughout the entire length of an extended record, each individualrecord sheet having only a slight displacement from its normal positionon the record drum, while this drum preserves absolute accuracy in itsmovements.

A further feature of the invention is th mounting of the pencil carriageupon a pair of clock driven feed screws the carriage being designedmerely to rest upon. the screws so that all back lash or lost motion isavoided and so that the carriage is guided solely by these screws.

I illustrate the preferred embodiments of my invention in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a recording device of the typedescribed, the device illustrated having a range of five feet for onerevolution of the recording drum and being capable of recording a periodof twenty-four hours duration; Fig. 2 is a section through the recordingdrum designed t show the method of supporting the paper and therecording pencil; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing the means ofdriving the feed screws from the clock; Fig. 4 is a partial verticalsection on the plane passing through the axis of the recording drum,illustrating the mode of driving the pencil carriage; Fig. 5 is apartial perspective showing the underside of the pencil carriage; Fig. 6is a vertical section of a modified form of the invention, provided witha reduction gear between the float and the recording drum; and Fig. 7 isa section on the line 9 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a standard or support which maybe mounted in any suitable manner, and which is provided with a boss 2on which is jour naled the record drum 3. The face of this drum isdivided into two portions or ways by means of three rims 4, 5 and 6.Between the rims 4 and 5, which are relatively close together, aremounted a series of equally spaced studs or pins 7 which engage suitableperforations in the metallic tape 8 c011- nected to the usual float 9and counterweight 10. The pins 7 may be extensions of the spokes of thedrum 3 as shown in Fig. 4. The portion of the drum between the rims 5and 6 is designed to receive the recording surface, usually a strip orstrips of paper and is provided with a number of slots 11 (in this caseten in number) extending from the rim 5 to the rim 6. The paper recordblank consists of a corresponding number of short lengths of paper 12which are attached to the drum by inserting their ends through the slots11 and attaching a clamp or clip 13 connected by a radial coil springl-l to the hub '15 of the record drum. The paper strips 12 fit closelybetween the rims 5 and 6 and preferably are devoid of any coordinatelines or any other graduations, it

being my purpose to interpret the records made by this device by meansof a measuring board adapted to position the record sheet by means ofthe creases formed where the paper passes through the slots 11 and tomeasure the recorded quantities by means of scales fixed to the board, adevice of this character being described and claimed in my co-pendingapplication for a patent on improvements in scales, Serial No. 7 00, 177filed May 29, 1912.

It will be observed that by subdividing and mounting the record sheet asabove set forth each section of the surface is held taut, and as theexpansion of each portion is relatively slight, practically no errorwould be introduced thereby. It will be noticed further that the errordue to such expansion would not be cumulative in a record extendingentirely around the drum as each section of the record is interpretedindividually. On the upper end of the standard 1 is mounted a clockmovement 16 whose exact form is not material. 0n the shaft of the hourwheel of this movement is mounted a gear wheel 17 meshing with two equalgears 18 which are consequently driven in the same direction by the gear17. These gears 18 are fast upon parallel threaded spindles 19, thethreads thereof being spaced twelve to the inch. The outer ends of thethreaded spindles 19 turn in a plate 20 carried on brackets 21 as isclearly shown in the draw- The pencil carriage consists of a plate 22having downwardly extending lugs 23 with threaded grooves or recesses24. These fit upon the threaded spindles 19, and consequently, as willbe apparent from the drawings, as the clock drives the threaded spindles19 the pencil carriage will be fed across the record drum in a straightline. The pencil carriage is provided with a vertical tube within whichis slidably mounted a tube 26 provided with a clamping screw 27. Theclamping screw 27 is for the purpose of binding an ordinary lead pencil28 inserted through. the tube 26 so that the tube 26 serves not only toguide the pencil but also to provide sufficient weight to hold it inmarking contact with the record sheet. A slotted bracket 29 carried onthe tube 25 straddles he screw 27 and prevents rotary movement of thesleeve 26 which obviously would introduce errors unless the pencil wereperfectly sharpened.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I illustrate a device substantially identical to thatheretofore described except that the record drum 3 and the clock 16 (theclock not being shown in detail in these figures) are carried on a frameof slightly different form as will be apparent from the drawing. Theform of the frame is not however, essential.

The only substantial difference between the modified structure and thatshown in the F 1. to 5 is in the use of a pair of reduction gears 30 and81 between the record drum 3 and the wheel lupon which the metallic tape8 runs. By the use of such reduction gears the diameter of the drum 3may be considerably decreased without decreasing the total range of theinstrument. its accuracy is however, somewhat less due to the morelimited movement for a given variation in stage. The paper record ismounted in the same manner but consists of fewer sections.

In using either of the above recorders the pencil carriage is set at astarting position and the time of starting is marked on the record. Asthe water stage fluctuates the drum 3 will be rotated and the pencilwill then trace a continuous record upon the strips 12 carried by thedrum. At the end of the record period other record strips aresubstituted for those which are removed and the carriage pencil is resetto a new starting point. The record strips may then be mounted in themeasuring board heretofore alluded to and may be interpreted by means ofsuitable scales attached to the board. It is obvious that the scalesmust be properly correlated to the rates of movement of the parts of therecorder and I contemplate the use of a characteristic measuring boardfor each type of recorder. WVhile I have mentioned certain dimensionsherein these are to be undersood as suggestive merely. Such dimensionsof the diameter and width of face of the drum, the pitch of the feedscrews and the like are subject to modification to suit inclividualcases.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination of a record drum provided with a plurality of slotsextending across its face; holding mechanism carried by said drum andadapted to engage the ends of a plurality of contiguous record stripsinserted through said slots, to hold said strips upon the face of saiddrum; and means adapted to mark a record on said strips. z 2. Thecombination of a record drum provided with a plurality of slotsextending across its face; resilient tension devices carried by saiddrum; clamps carried by said tension device and adapted to engage theends of record strips inserted through said slots to hold said stripsupon said drum; and means adapted to mark a record on said strips.

3. The combination of a record drum;

means for moving said drum proportionally to the movement of a body; aconstant speed driving mechanism; a pair of feed screws driven by saidmechanism; a carriage removably mounted on said feed screws and guidedsolely thereby; and a stylus mounted on said carriage and adapted tomark upon a record sheet carried by said drum.

i. The combination of a record drum having slots extending across itsface; means for moving said drum proportionally to the movement of amoving body; a series of clamps adapted to engage the ends of recordstrips inserted through the slots in the record drum; resilient meansconnected with said clamps to exert stress upon said record strips; aclock movement; a pair of feed screws driven thereby; a stylus carriagedriven and guided solely by said feed screws across the face of saiddrum; and a stylus mounted in said carriage and adapted to mark upon arecord sheet carried by the drum.

5. The combination of a suitable supporting frame; a record drum havingtransverse slots on its periphery; a series of springs within the drum;means for connecting said springs to the ends of record sheets insertedthrough said slots; a float; connections between the float and the drumwhereby the drum is rotated by the movement of the float; a clock; apair of lead screws driven by said clock and having their axes parallelto the axis of the drum; a carriage resting on said lead screws inengagement with the threads thereof whereby the carriage is both guidedand driven by said screws; a guide carried by the carriage; and a pencilmounted in said uide so as to mark upon a record sheet carried by thedrum.

6. The combination of a record drum and a recording stylus coactingtherewith, one being movable at constant speed and the other beingmovable in a direction transverse to the line of movement of the firstunder the influence of a moving body; and means for supporting on thedrum a record blank, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed, unconnectedsheets arranged in circumferential order around said drum.

7. The combination of a record drum; means for supporting on the face ofsaid drum a record blank, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed,unconnected sheets arranged in series around the circumference of saiddrum to form a substantially continuous record receiving surface; andrecording means adapted to coact with said drum to record upon therecord blank so supported.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WENDELL HESS, JR.

Witnesses:

C. S. HALLENBEOK, GORDON S. HOPKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner 0! Patents. Washington, D. 0.

